School Has Begun!!!!

School has started!!!! Yipee and whatnot!! Oh and I got a fish for my birthday from my awesome compadrae. It's a red Beta fish that eats other fish! I mean how exciting is that? Well... not really for the other fish... And I named it Victor Frankenstien in honor of my Ap LIT friends hurrying to read Frankenstein before school starts. Anyways, my schedule is packed with 3 Ap classes, office aide, TA, Pre calc, and Preschool teacher, so I might not be doing this blog so frequently. Oh and yes, yours truly is a preschool teacher. It's a pretty fun class and all I have basically have to do is play dinosaurs with toddlers!
And among other non related things, I'm started on my new peotry book, the one that raps up my 5 book Belief and Resurgence series, and it's entitled (Finger snaps)... BELIEF AND RESURGENCE: THE WORLD IS BEFORE US. Don't you just feel epic when you say that? Anyways I have like 15 poems already and they are pretty heart wrenching, if I may say so myself. With this book I want to squeeze in alot more emotions than my other 4. And what are they called you might wonder? Well let me relieve your curious mind, for they are entitled: Look to the leaves (2009), The Overview (2010) , Broken Butterfly (2010), and Hide and Seek (2011). Each book has about 35-60 poems in it. And below here is a pic I'm considering for the cover. I'll have pictures of my other books later :D

Have a great rest of the week, Mary

More House of Blinds excerpts :)

With much relief we stumbled into the cave of the beginning and I’m pretty sure I heard our jaws drop to the floor. This cave- not even cave- cathedral might be a better word, was incredible. Along the wall weren’t stick drawings like the ones in India but realistic masterpieces, carved into the wall and painted over with- I don’t know what- glittery blue? And the crevices sparkled and crackled with magic. And they moved. Did I mention they move? There was a Lady with long hair writing unfamiliar words on a paper that folded in itself, disappeared and reappeared fresh. Alters and tables dotted the sprawling space, some made of gold, platinum, reed, and diamonds. DIMANDS! This was turning out to be a very beautiful day. Hayley ran ahead, tracing the moving figures, and Ryan and I followed.
I traced my finger tips along the wall, etching every crevice and every foreign image into my memory. I touched the shimmering blue, and stepped back in surprise when I realized some of it was on my fingers. I rubbed it between my thumb and forefinger, disbelieving that it was really there. It was cool, not wet, but- I don’t know- rubbery?
“ Riley look up.” Ryan said sounding somewhat awe-struck. The ceiling of the cave was decorated with hundreds of crystals glowing a blushes light. The light of the beginning. My breath caught as I spun on my heels surveying the football field sized room. Every breath you took was so much cleaner than in the world outside, it renewed you. It was as if the essence of magic was being inhaled into your core. We looked around for at least fifteen minutes taking in the grandeur, and for a moment I could forget the need for urgency In finding the stone; That I was some mutant star child and just everything. It was just nice to relax, I could feel my shoulders slump down and the tenseness of days float away.
“ This. Is. amazing!” I gasped. “ Hayley-“ I stopped short. And looked over my shoulder. Where did she go? There was no sign of her in the immense open space. I swiveled my head franticly, my blood pressure spiraling.
“ Ryan where did Hayley go?!” I exclaimed. He looked at me confused and slowly panic began to rule his features.
“ Oh no, not again! Hayley!”
“ Hayley, where are you!?”
“ She couldn’t have gone far, I mean where could she have gone?” I cried. We began to search under the altars, checkered across the floor. But there was no sign of her.
“ Man this doesn’t make any sense, how could she disappear?!” Ryan was right, the only place for cover would be under the altars, other than that you’d have to go out the Troelly gate but that was blocked. I looked at him desperately and he shrugged pacing the floor.
I ran my fingers through my hair feeling tears of panic threaten to fill my eyes.
“ No, no, no! Hayley, where are you!!?” I screamed.
“ Right here.” Her voice was quiet but I could defiantly hear it. I whipped around scanning the room for any sign of a six year old blonde.
“ Where, I can’t see you...” I faltered. I glanced at Ryan who stared at me like I told him I was really Demi Lovato in disguise and that I had to jet because I had a birthday party to run to in the Swiss alps.
“ What are you doing?” He cried. Now it was my turn to look at him strangely.
“ Um, were you not just right here? Have we not been looking for Hayley? She called out, you were standing here…” I trailed off for he was still giving me that look.
“ No one has said anything.” I stared at him and he stared at me back. Awkwardly.
And then I knew. I closed my eyes and slowly breathed in the magic, letting it sink into my core and focused on her freckles and brown eyes. Hayley, where are you?
I’m in the wall. Her voice sounded sad and resigned, too much emotion for one so young.
“ You’re in the wall?” I said out loud. Ryan looked at me like I was crazy, and I probably am. I’m still not 100% convinced about this magic/ carpet/ blinds/ lamp thing.
“ Wait- are you talking to her?” He asked. Wow, he’s catching on real quick.
“ Uh yah and you’re interrupting.” Hail, um why- no. How are you in the wall? And where exactly?
I put my hand where the dryad was and I stepped through, she thought.
“ They dryad.” I told Ryan, “ We need to find the Dryad.” He nodded and we quickly scanned the room.
“ There.” He pointed triumphantly. She was wearing a flowy dress with flowers braided in her long tresses and she held her palm out, as if waiting for someone to give her a five. But the weirdest thing was that she didn’t move. That’s never a good sign, I thought, let us go towards the only suspicious thing in the room.
We raced over there and I tried to walk into the woman, I mean the girl said she was in the wall. Ha, ya, it didn’t work. I kind of felt like Harry Potter after the barrior didn’t work: stunned and kind of foolish.
“ Hayley can you hear me?” I asked pressing my face against the cold wall.
Well of course I can hear you.


Jamir chuckled as with a dramtic flourish of the hand the only entrance (and exit!) began to crumble into a pile of ruble.
The Water around us began to rise, tugging at my ankles and I looked at Idris franticly.
“ Can’t you do something?” I shrieked over the roar of the water. But he looked just as uncomfortable as I did, or as uncomfortable as one can look with shades on.
“ I can make the water boil if that’ll make you feel any better.” He retorted.
“ Really? I’m going to drown? With him? After everything?” I yelled at the ceiling.
“ Calm down.” He ordered. He took of his glasses and zeroed in on the door with his fiery eyes but nothing happened. He shrugged.
“ Oh well, I warned you djinn. Looks like we just wait here until the water rises and you drown.” He said casually. Gee, these people make really great friends.
“ You know what? Your lame powers are lame. But mine are probably less lame so maybe I can do something. ” I declared, glowering at him. And Ryan says I’m not determined, well ha! Idris scratched his head.
“ That won’t work Riley, your magic will just rebound.” I glared at him more severely.
“ Well then you better start ducking.”


“ Still waiting to see who brought the good weather with them.” Steve said with a false smile. I sank deeper into my seat to avoid his searching gaze.
“ I told you not to do that. Do you know what will happen if he catches us?”
I sighed annoyed. “ I have an imagination. And besides he can’t really hurt us, for a bad guy to be a real bad guy he’d have to have a cool name. Like Jameer or Chandra. Steve is a stupid name.”
Max rolled his eyes. “ I should have never rubbed the lamp.”


Here are some excerpts from the story ( I feel like I'm six when I say that, but i think novel is too generous a term) I'm writing called the house of blinds. It's about a girl named Riley and her brother Ryan and the awakening of there awesome Djinn powers and the quest to stop the newly awakened demon Jameer and the house of blinds from stealing the stone of life.

Another Spiel on Modesty

So, I'm on my last value for personal progress and for my project I am focusing on personal modesty. Personal modesty is so important because it dictates how we want the world to see us and how we see ourselves. I remember a little while ago I went to New York and bought the CUTEST!!! skirt. It was fashionable, no one else had it, and everyone loved it. But it was past my knee and I knew it. I tried to ignore it at first, tugging down at it, finding interesting ways to sit to make it cover my knee. But nothing worked. I tried to rationalize thinking, " Well everyone else is wearing skirts way shorter than mine, so what's the big deal?" But I knew better it and I knew God knew that I knew better. I knew I was going to be judged on a higher bar, which means that more is expected of me, which I guess is okay with me :) So with great sadness I retired my cute skirt and another one I also purchased from New York (P.S. just because you get some thing from NYC does NOT make it cute. Especially if it's banana yellow, with angel sleeves :/) But it's okay because once I stopped wearing it I felt alot better about myself, knowing I did the right thing. I forgot about the skirts entirely and discovered others way cuter. It felt so nice not to have to tug and feel guilty, and those feelings I realized just aren't worth it. And I know that at times it may feel like there is nothing in the store your size that is modest (trust me I know, I'm four foot eleven) but if you do what is right, God will bless you. He always has and always will. Be accountable for yourself and dress in way's that the Lord would approve. Which means....
1. I do not want to see past the knee. I just don't, it's uncomfortable. My brother once went to a church event and was paired with a girl who was attired in a very short dress. He didn't look at her the whole time and really wished he wasn't partnered with her because he felt so uncomfortable. Don't do that to people, it's really unfair.
2. No tang tops, Tube tops, Sleeveless, Low cutness, going on. Seriosly people, it's Utah, it's not that hot. It's not ever going to be that hot. Well except if you want to go down there where it is that hot, than you are properly attired.
3. Don't wear those short shorts. Girls who wear those look like trash. Anyone wearing shorts that short are girls that I would never think plan to go to college and get married.
4. Wear Sunday appropriate clothing: No flip flops, rumpled outfits, tennis shoes, short dresses, distracting clothing. Just wear your Sunday Best.
5. Look sharp, good haircuts, one ear piercing, clean, unwrinkled clothing...

Being apart of the LDS faith means that people are watching us because we are different. We're different because we follow God's commandments to a T and we're not ashamed. We need to set examples in the way we dress that show the world that we are not ashamed to be LDS and that we will do what's right no matter how hard.

Girls these day's don't seem to get that and they think that modesty is optional, so much so that at my majority LDS high school the Principal was thinking of lowering the dress code because girls seemed to break it anyway. One of the boys in the ward and his mom went to the council meeting to discuss this and they opposed the lowering most empatheticaly. They spoke of how when the boy took my friend to homecoming she looked stunning, and she was modest. She was the only one who didn't have to worry about adjusting straps and tugging and pulling. She just enjoyed the night which added to it.

Brigham Young once talked about how if a female angel in Heaven appeared to you right now, she would not be in the it fashion with buckets of makeup chalked on her face, but would look clean and presentable. I personally would rather look like one of Gods angels on earth so I'll have an easy transition when I get in heaven. If your super immodest and don't care, than you might have an easy transition, just not to heaven.

Anyways, Modesty is an unchangeable law that must be followed. Break it and there will be consequences follow it and you will be blessed. And as they say, when your modest you feel and look the hottest :)

Modesty!!!! It's important, so do it!!!

*In fact, modesty is fundamental to being worthy of the Spirit. To be modest is to be humble, and being humble invites the Spirit to be with us. – Elder Robert D. Hales

*Modesty is at the center of being pure and chaste, both in thought and deed. Thus, because it guides and influences our thoughts, behavior, and decisions, modesty is at the core of our character. Our clothing is more than just covering for our bodies; it reflects who we are and what we want to be, both here in mortality and in the eternities that will follow.- Elder Robert D. Hales

*Our clothing is equally important. It is the “landscaping” for presenting our bodies as temples. Just as the temple grounds portray the sacredness and reverence for what takes place inside the temple, our clothing portrays the beauty and purity of our inner selves. – Elder Robert D. Hales


*Imagine that you are watching a play. An actor comes on stage dressed as a clown but starts playing the serious part of the lead. You might react by thinking that this is inappropriate—there must be some mistake in the costuming or casting. – Elder Robert D. Hales

*Just as we are to “put on” the armor of God, we are to “put on” our clothes as protection for us and others. Clothing ourselves with modest dress and modest actions—mercy, kindness, humility, patience, and charity—will invite the companionship of the Spirit and will positively affect those around us- Robert D. Hales

*For Latter-day Saints, the way we dress demonstrates our understanding of and commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ. – Silvia H. Allred

*When we better understand the doctrine behind the principles of modesty, we realize that modesty is the virtue that guides and moderates action. – Silvia H. Allred

*As grateful recipients, we acknowledge this gift by treating our bodies as He has asked us to. – Silvia H. Allred

*As modesty becomes the virtue that regulates and moderates action in our lives, we too will find an increased sense of self-worth. – Silvia H. Allred

*A mannequin wears whatever the world is selling. Your standards are higher than that. – Silvia H. Allred

*If it’s too tight, too short, or too revealing, it doesn’t fit Church standards. Don’t stretch your standards to fit the worlds. – Silvia H. Allred

*There is no substitute under the heavens for personal virtue.- President Gordon B. Hinckley

*I am not asking you to be prudish. I am asking you to be virtuous, and I think there is a vast difference between the two.- President Gordon B. Hinckley

*Suppose that a female angel were to come into your house and you had the privilege of seeing her, how would she be dressed? … She would be neat and nice, her countenance full of glory, brilliant, bright, and perfectly beautiful, and in every act her gracefulness would charm the heart of every beholder. There is nothing needless about her. None of my sisters believe that these useless, foolish fashions are followed in heaven. Well, then, pattern [your lives] after good and heavenly things, ... – Brigham Young

*Young women, modesty in dress and manner will assist in protecting against temptation. It may be difficult to find modest clothing, but it can be found with enough effort. I do not hesitate to say that you can be attractive without being immodest. You can be refreshing and buoyant and beautiful in your dress and in your behavior. Your appeal to others will come of your personality, which is the sum of your individual characteristics. – President Gordon B. Hinckley

*As immodest dress dishonors the body—God’s most sacred creation—immodest, casual, or sloppy dress and grooming at sacred times and places mocks the sacredness of the Lord’s house and what is taking place. – Elder D. Todd Christofferson

*I believe that it is what’s inside a person that truly counts, but that’s what worries me. Casual dress at holy places and events is a message about what is inside a person. – D. Todd Christofferson

*You are a Saint of the great latter-day dispensation—look the part. – Elder D. Todd Christofferson

*We pray for a generation of girls who will display their wit, their intelligence, their modest charm, their integrity, their loveliness rather than their bodies. – Spencer W. Kimball

*On the other hand, those who do not appreciate holy things will lose them. – Elder D. Todd Christofferson

Modesty is the standard for LDS youth, no matter where they are. – Julia Woodbury

I do plead with the mothers of Zion to undertake modesty in dress. We may like to follow the fashion, but let us follow it in modesty. The most precious thing that a girl has is her modesty and if she preserves this in dress, in speech, in action, it will arm, and protect her as nothing else will. But let her lose her modesty, and she becomes a victim of those who pursue her, as the hare is of the hound; and she will not be able to stand unless she preserves her modesty. – Elder Melvin J. Ballard

The girl who chooses to be modest chooses to be respected. – Howard W.
Hunter

Young women, please understand that if you dress immodestly, you are magnifying this problem by becoming pornography to some of the men who see you. – Dallin H. Oaks

No amount of rationalizing can change God's laws. No amount of fashion designing can turn immodesty into virtue, and no amount of popularity can change sin into righteousness. – Mark E. Peterson

Modesty in dress is one of the identifying characteristics of true saints. – Bruce R. McConkie

Is there any reason why Latter-day Saints, nearly three million strong, have to go around like sheep, following the disgusting fashions of the world? Why should Latter-day Saint women and girls expose themselves by immodest dress, either in short skirts or tight blouses or however else you want to mention it. – Mark E. Peterson

if you tempt others by exposing yourself, God will hold you to account for it... – Mark E. Peterson

You can recognize women who are grateful to be a daughter of God by their outward appearance- Margaret D. Nadauld

All Israel are looking to my family and watching the example set by [them] – Brigham Young

What the Non- LDS have said:

Modesty in a woman is the sign that Jesus Christ dwells in her heart. It is a sweet perfume of edification, which she is called upon to diffuse. - Fatima Crusader

No education can be of true advantage to young women but that which trains them up in humble industry, in great plainness of living, in exact modesty of dress. – William Law

Nothing can atone for the lack of modesty; without which beauty is ungraceful and wit detestable. – Richard Steele

Sincerity is not a spontaneous flower nor is modesty either.- Sidonie Gabrielle Colette

Some are blessed with musical ability, others with good looks. Myself, I was blessed with modesty. – Roger Moore

We must watch over our modesty in the presence of those who cannot understand its grounds. – Jean Rostand

Modesty is not only an ornament, but a guard to virtue- Joseph Addison

Modesty is the color of virtue – Diogenes of Sinope

Here lies the end of Shark Week

We've waited for it for months, twiddling our thumbs and smiling at the thought; Our hearts quickened and our blood seemed to rush thirty thousand times faster. There is only one thing that can cause a person to, for an entire week, shut themselves in a house shoving Cheetos in their faces, with all the blinds drawn: It is the phenomenon of SHARK WEEK!!!!
Yes, I am one of those people who shuns the popular brain-liquifying TV shows for the intense perils of the discovery channel!!! And let me tell you, I am right on. This week sharks were so on my mind. My days have been filled with stories of shark attack survivors, crazy men who follow sharks around with camera's, and how the safety nets in Australian waters are killing innocent sharks. I know it sounds kind of geeky, but you just gotta watch it to know.
So as the week comes to a close I decided to rap it up with the viewing of Soul Surfer, a book recently turned movie, about a girl named Bethany Hamilton whose arm was bitten off. It's an amazing story and I highly recommend it.
This week has also reminded me of how the little things in life we worry about are kinda stupid. I mean, I always freak out when my hair isn't just right or I can't find my phone, and I endlessly moan about how my day is RUINED!!!! Well, try having your arm or leg bitten off by a shark, now that's a day ruined. And the people who suffer through don't complain or whine, they just accept it. What if we just accepted the rotten stuff that happened to us? Sometimes we just make things dramatic just so we can make it dramatic. We go and look for the shark in the water, and scream shark attack when anything goes wrong. I've made a goal that the next time I get ripples in my serene stream of life (eh? I know you like my alliteration! I mean serene stream, geniusness!!!) I'll just calm down and think, there is someone out there whose arm got bitten off by a shark and I'm standing here throwing a fit over a shoe that I can't find. So the moral of this little lesson is that you should be grateful for what you have and stop whining and acting like you got bitten by a shark because there is someone out there who was literally decapitated and they're not whining, so there! That's pretty much it, kinda funny how the discovery channel can have deeper meanings.

Bethany Hamilton (left)











- Mary

The Conductor

This is a poem I wrote that is based off a story that is told at church. Please no stealing, because that would be extremely lame. So don't be lame, and here it is. Drum roll please....

The Conductor
There is the conductor
Blue hat and radiant smile
There is his son
Who means everything to him
He is very young
The conductor brings him along
To work they go at the railroad
Switching train tracks day after day
The little boy loves this
Right and left, left and right they go
But one day was unlike the rest
For the boy decided to go on the tracks
He needed to
He wanted to
There is a train
It is coming so fast
It cannot be stopped
It cannot be stopped
The conductor knows he won’t reach his son in time
To pull him off and save his life
He can change the course of the tracks
So the train would crash but his son would live
But he knows the effect would be crippling
So the train comes
The people on board are saved
There is news special on it
But few watch
Few care to listen
They don’t know
That someone died that they could live
They don’t know that someone sacrificed
So they could live
They don’t know that the train
Was the weight and sins of the world
They don’t know that we were all on it
And that we once knew he who died
They don’t know that he went on the tracks
So that we wouldn’t feel this pain
But I know
I saw the news special
And I cried
I didn’t know such love real
But I saw it
In the boy and the conductor
And it was for me
And you
Always remember that day
When the conductor made a choice
And his son made a choice
To save the train
To save us
And when you pull into the station
Make sure to find the conductor
And tell him Thank you
Because there is the conductor
Blue hat and radiant smile
There is his son
His son and our savoir

Written By Mary (me)

10 days without sugar - DAY 2

So I've decided to be healthy for the next 10 days, so then on my birthday when I pig out I won't feel so bad. So how is this no sugar thing working out? It's working out alright, Just painfully. This is me:

No sugar makes me sad...

I'm also trying to finish my personal progress in a month, I've gone over (today is the first day over) but I only have two projects left, and I'm almost done with one of them. And it is: Scrap booking some of the poems I have made, yay!!!! Although one can really start to despise scrap booking after doing it for almost ten hours(I haven't finished yet).
And yah
-Mary